It's up to me now
by susanne.skjoldedvardsen
Summary: Astrid saw Hiccup flee from his responsibilities and takes up where he left, but is Astrid suited for the role of savior when she has so many dark secrets? And what really happened to her parents? Includes magic, cursing, blood. And answers what Astrid hides underneath those arm-wrappings! Story will focus on Astrid.
1. I never ever want to be useless

Hi thanks for taking a peek at my fanfiction :) Beware tho, there will be magic, and cursing. I also have to inform that Hiccup likely wont be in this story after this chapter. We might see some of Toothless. But this fan-fiction is based on Astrid and what actions she will take after Hiccup escapes his responsibilities. It will also be about what secrets Astrid hides underneath those arm wrappings, don't tell me you aren't curious.

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I Never Ever Want to be Useless

To be fair, Hiccup had done well since he learned those tricks in the ring. Don't think I didn't watch him, and understand what he did. Like the one time with the eel, or when he hit a certain spot on the dragons and they collapsed as if someone had struck them down by axe. I had originally thought that someone on the island had trained him, given him hints on how to take dragons down without bloodshed. Something Hiccup seemed excellent at, I mean he even got the honor to kill the nightmare tomorrow. But when it would come to real bloodshed tomorrow, how would he fare? Would he be able to kill the dragon?

I had gotten a few vikings drunk at the celebration after the failed attempt at finding the dragon nest, and asked them for any hidden tricks to try and reveal who had trained him. Due to everyone being off to the dragon nest, well almost everyone, the list of possible trainers wasn't that long and trying to lure a secret out of someone who is full enough… well it was easy. But no one had ever heard of the eel trick, the weak spot or the grass I had picked up after him. Which only left about Stoic to ask, but he had seemed too surprised when he returned and discovered what "dragon slayer" Hiccup had turned out to be. Gobber would surely not hold secrets like that back when he was the one in control of training us. So that only left one person. A person I had never met before, someone who didn't live on Berk. Or Hiccup had learned it all on his own. Which was unlikely considering it was, well… him. But I had one hint, I knew he snuck off into the forest, I had seen him enough times and followed him enough times to know there was somewhere he went. Somewhere he didn't want anyone to see. Well, to be honest I had tried to follow him and I had thought it would be easy too, but for all his clumsiness, he was actually quite good to disappear in the forest. But this time, this time for sure, I would finally find out who had trained him.

This time the noise he made was impossible to overhear. I followed behind trees and kept myself hidden from him. He spoke to himself and it was obvious that he had tried to chew off a bit too much with all the stuff he was "trying" to carry. What had slightly baffled me was that the biggest sack of them contained what must be, based on the smell, fish. I stepped around and followed almost every time he had to stop and put down his sacks and take a break. What a whimp, well for being the best dragon slayer Berk had seen since ages he sure couldn't do lifting. I stalked him and watched as he stumbled onto a path. If this was the old me, or perhaps even me from a few days ago I would probably had taken the chance to find my own way and appear at his destination before him, but today I didn't take that chance. I felt, perhaps he had something up his sleeve, and that something would probably be another viking waiting for him somewhere secluded. Showing up first might not be a wise idea. So I stalked him and when it was obvious, even more so than a little while ago, where he was headed I gave him a little time before following through the small gap in the rock wall.

It was tight and I could understand it if Hiccup had struggled with pulling the casket full of fish through here. After I got past an especially tight spot I noticed light, but it was blocked by something shaped like a shield. Had Hiccup built something to keep intruders away? I got closer to the thing and heard a voice from outside. Definitively Hiccup. "Leaving. We're leaving. Let's pack up. Looks like you and me are taking a vacation, forever." His sarcastic voice boomed into the little cave and I took a few moments to scramble forward to the round thing. It was a shield, and I carefully looked over it. I could see Hiccup doing something with something out of my field of vision. Well, I could wait a little, I had the surprise on my side and Hiccup wasn't going anywhere, this surely must be the only way in. I felt content with myself as I stood behind the shield. While I watched Hiccup do something my thoughts wandered to how this shield could have gotten stuck, when I heard an odd sound. I looked up to see Hiccup gradually easing onto a DRAGON! I was struck with surprise for a second before my foot, on its own accord, punched through the shield to get out and take on that dragon. But the second my foot smashed through the shield, dislodging it from the stonewall, they were off.

I didn't scream after him, I was just standing there, coming to the realization that Hiccup had ridden a dragon. And that it hadn't seemed to want to kill Hiccup. How? And was it the dragon that had shown Hiccup how to take dragons down without bloodshed? Anyway, those thoughts didn't matter as I felt the rage boil through my blood and the few seconds I had stood there looking after Hiccup turned violent as a nearby tree got a piece, or, well a lot of my anger as I killed it violently over and over again with my well trusted axe. All the time while some whispers in the back of my head told me "there is a reason for all of this. There must be."

I stopped the violent "killing" of the tree and looked over to the shield on the ground. The twins had gotten the blame for taking that; I remembered vaguely, also all that metal from the blacksmith and the raided skin hut, it had all been Hiccup. Well being the chief's son he always got away with everything. When we were little I had always been so angry about that. While I, if I accidentally knocked over a weapon stack at home would get jelled at so much, Hiccup could practically burn down half of the village and get away with it. And now he had fucked up, well no one would know, because I wouldn't tell anyone. If I told them, there was a risk they wouldn't believe me and would think me crazy. I was not willing to take that risk. While going back to the village or even train sounded wonderful to my mind, I couldn't just let go of this. I put my hand in my little pouch and took up the grass I had collected after Hiccup had taken down that gronckle in the ring today. I took a deep breath of the grass as the familiar sent tingled in my nostrils. I knew the place perfectly. I had thought he had been given the grass from the viking that trained him, because I couldn't picture Hiccup climbing to get there on his own. Perhaps he was up there now? If he was I could probably take him on, and demand him tell me the truth.

Be he there or not, it was something to set my mind on as I began walking. Soon the sun would set and it would be impossible to find my way either up or down to the grass, I eased into a quicker tempo and walked with my shoulders tense, just in case. Hiccup had probably gotten a hold of the grass after he rode the mysterious black dragon up there. And by the way what was up with that dragon? I had read the dragon manual many times, not as many as Fishlegs though, but still there was no mention of it in the book? Yes I had read it more than once. I didn't want to fall behind on anything, I was, err… had been, the best young viking Berk had seen in ages. Well, until Hiccup had stolen the spotlight. I bet he could barely even track or take down a dragon in the heath of a fight. He was so selfish. It was always as if the world revolved around him, and even though he had been seen as the screw up, useless heir to the village, he had been kind of loved. I had no one. Never had had any one but my uncle Finn, and he was from my father's side and a little bit on the crazy side too. My aunt had been banished to the end of the sea and my parents had been killed. Not by the flightmare, because a death like that would at least been something to be proud of, celebrate that they had died in a battle to fight for our village. No they had been doing magic. And no not the kind of magic we hear about around the campfires in the evening, about lovely fairies and strength potions, no, it was blood magic. And I knew about it because, well I had seen them do it, and with dragons. They had done it to me, and themselves. And they had died doing it. No one knew the truth, or at least I don't think anyone knew the truth, but I still bear the scars from that time they used it on me… Anyway, I gripped my axe tighter; it wasn't my intended purpose to get lost in my own thoughts. I looked at the pillar of rock. No other place on Berk, which I knew off, had grass like the one I had found after Hiccup. It was time to climb.

I put my axe in the leather straps on my back and started to climb. My hands and feet easily found places to support my weight. I had after all climbed this pile of rocks more times than I can remember. I was reminded of happier thoughts when I smelled the fragrant smell of a flower Gothi had once asked me to get for her. I refused to be useless in any situation and had taken to learn about some healing arts from Gothi when I was younger. I had taken the axe after my parents, well… you know. Anyway I knew what to eat to get better and what to never ever eat, in most occasions. I never ever wanted to be useless.

The climb was quickly over and I lifted myself of the edge and looked towards the grass. It had been a while since I last was here, and now I checked for danger. As I didn't sense the presence of anyone or anything remotely close I started walking into the grass. It had been the perfect training spot due to the grass itself. It was so secluded that no one ever would invade on my training, especially Hiccup, and after I walked around a little I got a clearing in the grass in which I could train. The grass provided a soft ground if I should be so unlucky as to fall when I trained. The only downside to this was that after a while the scent from the grass would be too much, especially if I had stomped on it too much, and it would make me disoriented and confused. Which was bad if I had to hurry and climb down before the sun set for the day. As I now walked around in the tall grass I didn't notice anything off about this place, until… there! Someone had stomped the grass down in a big circle and some of the grass had also been chewed off. Well then Hiccup had been here on his black dragon.

I sat down in the field I don't know why, perhaps I was waiting for Hiccup or something. I looked up at the sky. I also liked this place because it was closer to the sky than, well a lot of Berk. Even thought there was the never ending threat from dragons and many vikings feared the sky, I had always loved it. In secret of course. Perhaps that was why I hadn't wanted to get the rest of the village involved with Hiccup's dragon thingy. He probably wouldn't return. And if he did, it probably would be on his black dragon. Black dragon.

It was something about that dragon, besides the fact that it wasn't in the dragon manual. What could it be? It had looked different from how many dragons look. Most of them look either sharp, or bulky, some fiery, but never so black. And it had very large wings. It was probably quite the quiet dragon. And I certainly had never seen anyone like it, and never heard anything like it either. I recalled the odd sound from the cove in which I had seen them. And then there was the fact that it was black. Perhaps I had seen it before… I stood up because I didn't want to think more about it. I swung my axe, keeping an eye on the sky to see when the sun would set, not to see if I could spot the black dragon. Shh. Stop thinking about that. It would be impossible to spot after the sun set though, just like the dragons my parents used. STOP. No more now. I planted the axe solidly in the ground a few meters from me. It was now in the middle of some grass. I walked angrily over to it. NO MORE THOUGHTS NOW OK!? I said loudly in my head. As I did so the so familiar itching started along my arms. I breathed angrily through my nose. Ok, I'll deal with all of this, just have to get my axe. Then climb down before the sun sets. Black scales. Stop. Ok... I picked up my axe from the grass, getting a good whiff of it in my face. It calmed my nerves. Perhaps I should gather some for myself? Why not? I took a deep breath and picked enough to fill my pouch. I wouldn't tell anyone about what I had seen today. For all the village knew, I had been off to training. Yes, that was it, training. I walked out of the grassfield and took a last glance at the sky before I started to climb down the rocky pillar.

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Please review or pm me if you liked the story so far. The more reviews it gets the faster I'll write it. Hopefully people actually liked it :)


	2. Dragon nip, or dragon nap?

Got a pair of reviews and happy about that :D. Anyway as I said Hiccup really wont be in this fanfic much, so there probably wont be any romance. I'm not planning on having it as I kind of see the romance "displayed" by Astrid at the end of the first movie a little ooc. I know some might disagree, but still. I just wanted to write a fanfiction with her in the spotlight, and also magic. I do love magic :D

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Dragon nip, or dragon nap? Also where is Hiccup?

The sun slowly set as I walked towards the village, silencing my thoughts and my inner demons. I willed my mind to stay silent and took a whiff of my hand which still smelled slightly like the grass even though I had just climbed down rocks and stones. The surrounding forest got a darker shade now that the sun passed behind the highest points on Berk and cast shadows over the village. The sky was colored like red, but not quite red either, if you understand what I mean. Clouds gathered in the horizon to the east and a cold gush of air blew through the forest. Goosebumps climbed up my back as I walked and as a precaution I took my axe off my back. Dragons weren't known to attack at this time of the day, nor linger in the forest. Wolves however were sometimes around when you didn't want them to, and though they rarely attacked us, there were occasions they had done it.

I willed my mind to focus and I concentrated on every single sound in the forest. Another gush of wind blew through and I heard the trees dance along with the wind. I stood still for a few moments feeling the eyes of predators on me. It felt as if we had a starring contest. I took a deep calming breath and listened. The wind stilled as if the gods wanted to listen in on what was about to happen. But nothing. All this tension. All of it. And nothing happened. I waited a little, listening, trying to sense any other beings but coming out short. I straightened my back which I had previously bent to be more agile should something leap at me from the ever deepening shadows of the forest, and moved forward. Step by step. I walked along the path to the village, and soon I could see the shimmer of fires lighting up the surroundings slightly. I finally stepped out of the threatening forest. I usually loved the forest, but tonight it had been a tad on its darker side.

I turned around and followed the path back into the forest with my eyes to take a last glimpse of what I had felt stalking me. But there was nothing. I walked closer to the edge of Raven's point. The path I had taken had led me here and now I had an excellent view of the town. I could see patrols along some of the walls and vikings walking to the great hall with the preparations for tomorrow. I stopped at the edge and just stood there for a while, trying to think what would happen when Hiccup probably didn't show up to the kill ring tomorrow. The vikings expected to see blood. It didn't matter if it was viking or dragon, this tradition had been with us for so long it was hard to imagine the ritual without a viking to perform in it.

Would Stoic take his place as his only blood? Or would they cancel? That wouldn't be it. I lowered my axe and placed it solidly in the ground and put some of my weight on it as I felt my muscles finally getting ready to a good night of sleep. And then of course it could be I that had to slay the dragon. I was ever so ready, but still. Would I really want to do what Hiccup was supposed to do? There must be a reason as to why he, in his way, refused to kill that dragon. Maybe he knew something I didn't do. Well, I knew he knew stuff I didn't know, because its common sense not to know everything. Anyway, if I was to kill that dragon I had to be prepared, better get to my house then.

I was about to swing my axe back in my hands when I felt the lingering pressure of someone's eyes on me again. This time I turned around too quick for whatever it was that tried to sneak up on me and threw my axe as a warning, half expecting the twins or Snotlout to come out of the forest.

The axe lodged itself firmly into a tree beside whatever it was that was staring at me. It was not a viking. A dragon walked out of the forest, and it didn't do so calmly. It roared angrily and I instantly regretted throwing away my axe as a warning. How stupid could I be today!? The dragon charged at me and I narrowly avoided both it and the very deadly drop from Raven's point by barrel rolling to the left. I got a second to identify the dragon but, it was too dark to see anything clearly. The dragon didn't look anything like the five common we had here at Berk at least. The dragon turned around and charged at me, this time instead of dodging to the side, I slid underneath it, and if I had had my axe right then and there, it probably would have been over for this dragon. But I didn't have my axe, and as I tumbled to my feet to run and get it, the dragon roared again. I felt my heart beat faster and energy fill my blood. A smile crept upon my lips as I focused on taking this dragon down. I moved towards my axe with the dragon in sight, because you should never turn your back to a dragon. It turned its head to see where in the seven names of the gods I had gone when it spotted me. Then it flexed its tail at me and sharp spine like shots rang at me. "Oh great Odin's ghost, this is it!" I said as the spikes came at me. I tried to move sideways and duck at the same time, feeling the spines shot past me. And now I was farther away from my axe. My knife was tiny compared to this dragon, which since I didn't recognize from the dragon manual, I had no idea how to deal with. Then as the dragon came at me again, the idea struck me. The grass. I could curse myself. I still had the grass from the field. I managed to dodge the dragon once more, but I felt luck running low as I pulled the grass from my pouch. The dragon snarled at me and burrowed its claws in the dirt before using its strength to fly at me, its fangs gleaming in the weak light from the village and the moon. I held out my hand with the grass, my brain hopelessly trying to find a little crack in the attack which I could slip through, but there was none. My only comfort was the fact that at least I had the forest in my back, not the cliff. Then the dragon stopped midair, how I'm not sure, but anyway it just stopped and, well, its face in the grass, fell over on its back. I let the grass drop onto the dragon and was back with my axe in hand in mere seconds as the dragon writhed into the smell. I raised my axe. Got ready to take the killing blow when the winds, however mysterious they were, blew the grass into my face and I got a big dose of the scent of my own. The only thought that went through my head as I dropped to my knees was: "it must be stronger when it's been picked," before I feel over next to the dragon in bliss.

…(during night)…

I slowly came to as the cold air from the night hit me. The source of warmth I had curled up to, gone and some slight wing beats fading into the distance. My head was filled with wool it seemed, just as if I had drunken too much ale. I sat up, the world dizzy around me. I tried to recall what had happened, but to no avail. I looked down at the ground and noticed some stray grass. I moved over to feel the ground under my fingers and noticed it was still warm. The dragon. Shit, I had failed to kill it. Arg. I punched the hard ground. My body was quite stiff from the weird sleep position, but I still felt good and that made me even angrier. I tried to see through the darkness and my eyes searched for my axe, overlooking it twice before I found it. I started to walk back to the village, this time without the feeling of someone watching me. Stupid dragon. Should be dead.

The trip back to the village from Raven's point wasn't long or difficult to walk even with the lacking moonlight. The clouds must have filled the sky while I slept. I entered the village, spotting a guard leaning against a house snoring slightly. I didn't bother with waking him; instead I walked towards the great hall to see if the party was still going on. I would use that as a time measurement, because if they had stopped the "preparations" which in reality meant that they would have a party now, and well, after the bloodbath tomorrow too. If they had stopped, I had been asleep for a long time. The steps up to the great hall were slippery and I knew someone must have spilled a lot of ale judging by the smell. I saw glimpses of light coming from underneath the door and thought about entering. There would be no one for me to chat with in there. They were probably drunk beyond recognition already, so there was little use in me going in there. I turned around and headed for my house.

My house had always stood its ground against most dragon attacks. It was close to the chieftain house and the other prestigious houses at Berk. It was meant for a big family, or well, more than two persons. The exterior showed dragons carved into some stones bearing the main weight of the house. The top of the house had a dragon that resembled a nadder, but no one was quite sure what dragon it was meant to be.

Most houses at Berk are new. Dragons breathe fire and our houses are often a target for those feisty dragons, though the fact that ours is partially made of stone made it more flame resistant, that and also the fact that it were a few meters behind the other houses at the flat grounds in front of the chieftain house. I entered the Hofferson house; honestly I had wondered why not someone else also built their houses partially out of rocks? I mean, they can't be that stupid, right?

Anyway I stepped into the house and checked on the fire pit. It wasn't lit which meant nothing, considering Finn never really took care of it, and then sometimes he did. I decided to let it be and walked the steps cut into the log to my room. I placed the axe by my bedside and carefully closed the door to my room. There was only my room up here, but I still had insisted on a door when I was younger.

I closed the latch and found my sleeping sweater, and then I started undressing. First the shoulder pads, then the spiky shirt. I noticed some dirt drizzling down from the skirt and was reminded of my failed attempt at taking down a dragon. I took a deep breath; well there was nothing to do about that now.

All my clothes off and the sweater on, I lighted a fire and pulled out my trusty knife. This ritual I always performed every three days wasn't fun. I slowly unwrapped the bandages around my wrists and up to my elbows, proceeded with my little ritual, and wrapped my arms in new bandages before going to bed. I cleaned my blade with and old cloth. I looked over at the little flame dancing by my nightstand. Tomorrow would the annual celebration start, and everyone would expect Hiccup to show up and take down that dragon, but he wouldn't be there. I turned away from the dancing fire and tried to sleep under the pelts of fur. It took a great deal of willing my mind to stay still, but at last I managed to get a little sleep.

…

I rose at the crack of dawn, perhaps I needed more rest, but old habits are hard to break. I checked my wrappings and then took them off, they would need to be washed, and cleaned of the blood. I applied some ointment to my sore arms before placing the bandages from yesterday back on. I got fully clothed and headed downstairs with the bandages and the axe in hand.

I couldn't spot Finn anywhere, and therefore happily walked over to the fire pit and started a small fire before putting it out. I walked over to the place we kept food, and yes we used to have a kitchen sort of thing, but let's be fair neither me nor Finn can make a lot of food and it had been unused since my parents' untimely death. I found some fish and some eels; I had never really liked eel. I picked a nice looking fish and placed it on a stick before placing the stick above the pit. Breakfast would be good.

While I let the fish soak in the warmth from the embers I found a bucket and headed out to fill it with water. And so on. Then when I was all feed and had soaked and washed my bandages so they were ready for re-use I headed out to train. Nothing eventful happened there, I just ran some laps in the forest and practiced throwing my axe and doing some somersaults. Then I headed back to Berk just when life started to stir. I walked among tired vikings walking around, some walked to the great hall to get some leftovers from the party yesterday (even though there would be a party tonight too), and some went about to do their biddings. The day slowly went on and people flocked around the kill ring to finally watch a viking (hopefully) beheading a dragon. It was still some time left to the deed itself but many vikings gathered around and placed bets, and surprisingly many betted on Hiccup. But in their eyes he had gone from useless to the best viking of his age.

Some time later Stoic arrived. He was led to his chair that overlooked the arena and as you would have thought started to hold a speech about his son. "Well, I can show my face in public again," here he was interrupted by villagers applauding and laughing. I looked around to try and spot Hiccup in the crowd. It seemed no one had noticed his absence. "If someone had told me that in a few short weeks, Hiccup would go from being, well… Hiccup, to placing first in dragon training… I would've shipped him off for fear he'd gone mad. Yes! And you know it!" His playful tune stopped as he entered a proud stance in front of his chair. "But here we are. And no one's more surprised… Or more proud than I am. Today, my boy becomes a viking. TODAY, HE BECOMES ONE OF US!" The vikings applauded and cheered for Hiccup, not noticing he was nowhere to be found. I stood awkwardly with my axe in hand and waited for the moment they would realize he wasn't anywhere to be found.

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So not spoiling the secret about Astrid's armwrappings yet... Also just had to put in some descriptions and stuff. Astrid is a viking of habits and schedules soo... And she took the whole "she didn't kill the dragon" thing pretty nicely right?  
Next time in the kill ring!  
I do like reviews, so if you don't mind, I would love on from you too :)


	3. Bloodlust

Warning this chapter contains blood. Thanks fro reviews, they are always welcome :D

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Bloodlust

The vikings gathered around the chains and tried to get a glimpse of the ring when it became apparent that someone was missing. I could see Gobber barring his way to Stoic, probably telling him what I had known since yesterday. Stoic looked a bit angry and I could see his face getting a little bit red before he commanded Gobber away. The vikings chatted, but I could sense a certain discomfort, then out of nowhere Ruffnut and Tuffnut walked up to me. They had a big pouch, "so can we take your bet, Astrid?" "Naw," Tuffnut said. "She'll just put all her money on the nightmare, just know it. That ain't exiting." Before I got a say in the matter Snotlout showed up and irked closer to me, "hey babe wanna…" I smashed my hand in his face and pushed him off me. "Look I'm not in the mood for this..." I was interrupted by Ruffnut sticking her face in my face, "Oh, why so moody?" Tuffnut pushed her away and was in my face, "yeah" he said. "Look, why don't you go somewhere else and try to get someone to bet or something," I said as I pushed him away. Snotlout sensed an opportunity to try and sneak closer to me, but I grabbed his hand and pulled it behind him causing him to cry out in pain. "I said I'm not in the mood for this today".

When I was about to hit Snotlout, the crowd was calmed by a voice. It was Gobber. I listened in: "The elder has decided to give the honor of killing the nightmare to Astrid Hofferson since Hiccup is nowhere to be found". There were some commotions around, but they were calmed by Gobber again: "be calm, you'll see some blood today, after all its Astrid who is entering the ring!" Eh, I didn't know how to feel about that as I was lead by Gobber to the arena. I had always wanted to be the viking to kill the nightmare, but when it had been robbed from me by Hiccup I had planned on killing something else. Something grander. Like a Night fury. But I had failed yesterday; perhaps this was a sign from the gods, like they were giving me a new chance. I gripped my axe decisive and walked into the area with no more thoughts. I would kill it.

I stepped into the ring having a slight flashback to when I first set foot in here to start my training. Scars, yeah they had a deep meaning to me. I looked up trying to spot Stoic, but he was now where to be seen. They would probably arrange a search party later.

The door was closed behind me and the stench of iron and death filled my nostrils. I walked over to the weapon rack and picked a shield that looked as new as possible. I checked my pouch and my knife. It was all there. I rolled my shoulders and walked out into the middle of the arena. I took a deep breath and spotted the vikings that were supposed to open the gate of the nightmare. I nodded and they proceeded to lift the log with the chains.

The door broke open with fires clawing at the door. A big red dragon emerged from within and it clawed around the ring, shooting fire at the crowd and dangled from the chains in the sky, before it sensed me. All its actions stopped and its head dropped to get a good look at me. I blew my hair out of my face and balanced on my toe balls. The dragon climbed down from the chains, looking me over, accessing the threat. When it neared closer and it was obvious that I wouldn't back down, the dragon roared and I could see a faint blow from its throat. I barely dodged the shot, but was up in a second. "What's the first thing you need in a dragon fight? A shield". The shield came up and blocked an attack from the claws of the dragon and I retaliated with my axe, swinging it in a broad arc at the head, but the dragon back stepped and turned around, flinging its tail at me. I jumped it and ran over to the weapon stacks for cover. "A dragon always has a blind spot, find it and hide in it". The dragon charged into the weapon stack, a move I hadn't seen coming, and splinters of wood was thrown everywhere, I had been lucky it had missed me. I leapt up from my hiding spot and charged at the dragon, my axe swinging at its flank. It moved its wing out of the way so that I hit its side instead and blood gushed out, but it was barely worth the risk as the dragon set itself ablaze and I was forced back with fires all along my arms. I rolled on the ground and was up before the dragon had turned to me, the fire now put out, but the dragon wanted revenge now. It wasn't just about killing a random viking, no. It wanted to take me down and I could see it in its eyes. Bloodlust.

The dragon leapt at me and I lifted my shield to take the hit, but the dragon had seen it coming and violently clawed the shield out of my hand before bashing me with its head and throwing me a few feet in the air and before I got the chance to have a fated meeting with the ground the nightmare smashed its tail into my rib cage and threw me across the ring. I hit the wall and my head made a not so "all right" sound when it too smashed into the wall. I tried to orientate myself, but my head was once again full of wool. I managed to get to my feet, but the dragon sensing a victory frolicked over to me, slowly and not so very threatening. I guess I had no choice but to use my secret weapon already. My hands feel down to my pouch and I found the grass. I kept my hand in the pouch carefully so that I wouldn't get tainted with the smell. The dragon loomed closer, taking a look over to where I had dropped my axe when I was thrown across the ring, and its lips twitched as if it smiled at me. The blood red dragon smirked and bared its teeth at me, its eyes barely slits. Thinking it had all the time in the arena, the dragon kept the audience busy with tension as he thought he had the upper hand. But I did. The dragon charged for the final time as I thrust my hand forward with the grass from yesterday. The dragon set itself ablaze and the world moved slower. I could see it take a deep breath through the blanket of fire that covered it. My body, which had been beaten and burned, crouched to move and my arm thrusting forward as I held my breath. I let the grass slip between my fingers. "I am a viking," I said inside my head. The dragon crashed into the wall which I had just been thrown into. "I am a viking!" I sprinted towards the weapon stack which was closer than my axe. The closest weapon was a hammer. I stomped a piece of wood and got the hammer in my hand. I threw it at the dragon, hitting it in the face and making it fall into the grass I had just thrown. But the dragon wasn't done with me yet. I don't know how the dragon wasn't affected by the grass, but it tackled me to the ground, one of its claws had made a nasty gash along my leg and the other one pressed into my throat. I had once again been tackled to the ground, but I would let it end this easily. The blood from my wounds and all the blood from the dragon had been washed over me. I had never really liked blood after, well… Anyway, I would never let it end like this. If I should see blood, it would be the blood of my enemies. "Shields are good for another thing, make sounds, and lots of it". I crashed my hand down onto the shield closest to me and the dragon recoiled from the sound for a second which was enough for me to grab the shield and smash it into the head. But it was a weak blow and the dragon was nothing but angered more. The vikings around us cheered for blood now. Which one of us would go down, it didn't seem to matter to them, as long as they would see blood. Idiots.

I got to me feet slowly, the dragon eyed me. I only had a shield now, and as always, my knife. Its eyes slid down to my pouch and then it met mine. It growled and leapt. I brought up my shield, but we were both tired now, we had both lost a lot of blood. He lifted me with his head and we crashed into the wall again. The shield slid from my grip and in panic I gripped the horns of the dragon and kicked away from the wall. The neck twisted and I landed upon the dragon awkwardly. No one moved. I felt the dragon take a deep breath and I didn't budge. I still had its horns in my hands. This fire breathing creature had gone from trying to gut me to calm and just breathing. As if the grass had finally kicked in. The crowd was silent. I took a deep breath myself. "I am a viking," I thought. Blood dripped from a cut on my forehead. I didn't remember getting that. "I am a viking". I let go of the grip on the dragon. "I am a viking". I slid down and landed on my feet. Blood loss was really getting to me now, but it wouldn't matter. "I am a viking". I looked for my axe. It was a few feet away. I staggered towards it and picked it up and turned around. "I AM A VIKING!" I took a few steps back to the dragon, blood everywhere. "I'm a viking"… my head was so heavy and my grip around the axe faltered. I face planted into a pool of blood and blacked out.

(Somewhere later…)

"… ending." Some scratching sounds. "Well its one of the best…seen" the sound was muffled and I tried to focus on the voices. I heard more scratching and I wanted to clear my head. "Indeed!" I recoiled slightly at the loud burst of sound. And I was discovered. Something was lifted from my face, a blanket? A motherly old lady looked back at me. Gothi. "You ought to take it easy girl, you had some deep cuts and stuff", Gobber said before scratching the back of his head. "Well I was just here to check on our little champion". He smiled awkwardly and looked out the window obviously wanting to be somewhere else. "But I have to go now, we have started several search parties for Hiccup. We'll probably find him soon, so I will leave you here then. Gothi will take care of you". And before I had the chance to muster an answer or something, he left. I looked angrily after him. "Arg". I said, but my voice was slightly raspy. I was thirsty. As if Gothi had read my mind she placed a bowl of water to my lips and I drank it all. It had a fragrant smell of something. I tried to place my mind on it, but whatever it was, it helped me feel better. I heaved my body from the bench and looked at Gothi. She was dusting the ground, and then checking to see if I was watching. She scratched down something: "Hiccup is gone." She looked at me. "Yeah I know, I remember". I answered. "Do you remember the fight?" she asked, scratching at the floor. I was surprisingly happy when she let go of Hiccup as a topic. I nodded and said "But, what happened to him?" Gothi raised an eyebrow before getting it. "He is in the ring, he is your kill. If you still want it". There was a challenge in her eyes as she looked at me. I grabbed the pelts and pushed them of me. There was a bandage around my foot and my skirt had been removed to expose my brown underskirt and leggings. My boots were gone. I had a bandage around my head.

Gothi scratched at the floor. "You are allowed to leave". And that was all she said before she turned her back to me. "Wait," I said as I searched for my pouch, I found it on a table in reach from the bench. There was some stray grass in the pouch. Gothi turned around, "what is this grass used for?" I asked and held out for her. She took the grass, looked it over and the sniffed it. I made no move to warn her. She would now what she was doing, right? She shook her head and scratched into the sand: "it's not." And that was it; she sniffed the grass once more before letting it drift through the air. I got a little whiff of the sent again. I felt drowsy, but it disappeared once I held my breath. "I'll leave then", I said as I walked out of her hut. I knew something was up with that grass, but I would deal with that later. I climbed down the ladder and thought happy thoughts about my axe. I would deal with the dragon later too…

-End chapter-

For those of you who wondered, Gothi and Gobber just chatted about Astrid's fight with the nightmare.

Now do you think Astrid is on her way to take down that dragon? I just couldn't kill our bellowed nightmare of so early, like its only chapter three! But do you think he is going down anytime soon?

I'm thinking about trying to add in some swearing or something like: By the name of Odin's ravens! If you have any good ones, it's just to put em in the reviews or pm me :) hopefully I'll see you next chapter ;)


	4. Light magic

A/N just to make sure everyone knows that thing Astrid did when she twisted the nightmare's neck, is the same as when she did it on outcast island. She trained the dragon :)

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Light magic

Once I entered my house, I saw Finn hanging around the fire pit. No shocker, but he should really be out looking for Hiccup right? I noticed my axe; someone must have been by with it. Finn wandered over to the kitchen and turned around. He looked partially sane right now, but I learned the hard way never to fully trust him. "Astrid you'll never believe what I found in the kitchen!" He said and walked in. I must admit my curiousness got the best of me and I walked after him, forgetting the nightmare for now. The smell of old fish reached my nose, but I held my breath and followed Finn. He had moved the wooden planks in the kitchen floor and revealed some space underneath our house. I was surprised at him, how had he managed to find it? "Just had a feeling something was down there…" he said before lighting a torch. "I wanted to show it to you, maybe your parents left something down there?" I wanted to go down there and not, but when Finn climbed down, I just followed.

It was dark and bigger than I had expected. Some shields lined the walls, but instead of viking motives they had dragons painted on them. Finn walked over to a desk filled with papers. "Wow," I said in amazement this place was really something. I had never expected to find something like this under our house. I located the old fish smell and looked inside a barrel. Two rotten, dried fish were in it.

"Hey Astrid, see, some books," Finn exclaimed and I walked over to the desk. Perhaps I should have brought a torch too? He had found a book and had opened it on a random page for me to see. I leaned over the desk to get a better look and I squinted to see what was written on the paper. Dread filled me as I recognized the futark (A/N: Futark is the alphabet of the runes) mixed in with the letters of the magic my parents had done. I took a deep breath as I saw that this particular page held a formula to ignite fire, one I had learned and knew like the back of my hand since I was a child. Then breathed out again, that wasn't so bad. I turned to Finn; he really shouldn't be seeing this. "It's just some old book," I said. He looked disappointed. "Why don't you go search for Hiccup?" I asked him, trying to lead his mind onto something else. "That's a good idea Astrid." He said and left. I was left in the dark basement, only with the hole in the ceiling as a source of light. I gritted my teeth. "Time to get this done," I said and climbed out of the hole.

… (At the kill ring)

I opened the door enough to get into the ring. The nightmare was lying close to a wall, but as far away as it could come from the blood we had spilled earlier. The sun was still up and would provide with light long enough for me to get my deed done. I walked over to the dragon, my axe in hand. It was out cold, resting or something. But when I got closer the dragon raised its head and sneered at me. But, when its eyes meet mine, it stopped. I was surprised, to say at least. The dragon let its head rest on the ground, as if it was comfortable with me being there. "I'm here to kill you, dragon!" I spit the last word out. "You are a devil spawn, and I'll rid this earth of you." I was really close to the dragon now. My heart beat fast and I was hoping the dragon didn't hear it. I dragged the axe along the floor the last way and tried to get its attention. But it was futile. Anger boiled through my blood and in frustration I grabbed my hair and waved around with my axe "Do you know how hard I have worked to get to kill you!?" I screamed in its face. "And when I finally start dragon training, Hiccup steals the honor!" I kicked the ground. "Then I get the chance again, but I fail, and now when I'm here to finish it, you won't even look at me?" The last part came out as a question even though I hadn't meant it to be. The dragon lazily opened one of its eyes but closed it again before I had the chance to do something, anything. I couldn't just slit its throat. "Meet me beast!" I screamed at its face. No one was looking. The spell from earlier came to mind, so easy. It would be so easy to say the words, cast fire onto the dragon. Oh, how the irony. I don't know what was wrong with me, but that's what I did. I spoke the spell, a short word, and it was done, a bright flame came forth from my hand and I focused it onto the dragon, but I stopped it. Why? The fire, scorching and flickering in my palm, and I hadn't used it on the dragon. "Very well, if I can't get your attention with some magic, how about some other dragons?" I said. By this time, my mind was just filled with getting to kill a dragon. If I couldn't kill the nightmare, I would kill the … I looked at the cages. The nadder would be a fitting dragon, to proud to look away when I dealt the final blow.

I checked to see if the nightmare finally wanted to show some dignity and look at its killer, but it didn't. I would kill it after I killed the nadder. A vicious mad smile plastered onto my face as I thought of nothing but getting revenge for my failed destiny. I would kill a dragon. In front of another dragon that wouldn't even look at me. Ha! I would show them, I would show them all! I extinguished the fire in my palm and went to open the door.

I got the door open, and picked up my axe and waited. I had hoped the Nadder would be a show off and brace into the ring, but it didn't. Its head poked out of the doors and its eyes set on me. It squinted, as if trying to understand why I was here alone. Then I screamed my attack-roar and charged. I would never ever be useless, and if I can't kill a dragon, that's what I'll be. I can't let that happen. The dragon sidestepped me and smacked me with its tail. The injuries I had gotten earlier were forgotten as I charged the dragon again. This time I didn't have a shield, and it was probably a mistake as the dragon, instead of shooting spines at me, decided to roast me alive. I had too much speed to halt my charge and it was too late to do anything. I feel at peace, I don't know why, but the realization that I was going to die was actually a little soothing. I wouldn't have to right my mistakes. The fire hit me for a split second before I was behind something. Something big. I opened my eyes which I had closed when I was about to die. The nightmare had jumped in front of me!

I backed away slightly as the dragon roared at the nadder. I could see some blood dripping from the rib wound I had inflicted earlier. Why was it protecting me? Why did it do so even though doing so obviously hurt it? The dragons calmed while I was just standing there not understanding anything. Hiccup's dragon hadn't wanted to kill him either.

Maybe there was a way to end the war, not by killing them all, but by doing something else. Had it been the grass? Had it been that I passed out as it did? I recalled the other dragon from the forest. I knew it had woken up before me, but it had let me be. Perhaps… if I just… I walked around the nightmare and approached the nadder, the anger from before had vanished completely. Carefully I dropped the axe to show it I meant no harm. "See," I said as I whispered the spell again. A bright flame danced cheerfully in my hand. "I can make fire too," the dragon looked big eyed at the fire in my palm, then at the axe at the ground. It took a deep breath and squinted at my arms. Its fire had hit me for a split second, yet I wasn't badly hurt, I could barely feel the wounds from my fight earlier. "Perhaps you just respond to the way we act?" I asked the dragon, it tilted its head and looked at me. I approached yet again. The flame was dancing in my palm and the dragon took some steps towards me. I stopped. I couldn't do anything about the fear that clawed at me; I was almost defenseless if the dragon decided to attack. But I had my back to the nightmare too, I would be doomed if he decided to attack. I took a deep breath as the dragon stood before me. I let the fire burn out and permitted the dragon to sniff at my hand. But it didn't stop, it sniffed at my arm, I furrowed my eyebrows. Why was it so interested in that spot? I heard a soft squawk, as if a question and the dragon looked at me. Could the dragon smell it? But I had just cut them out? I moved slow as to not alarm the dragon and unwrapped my bandages, they hadn't been switched by Gothi.

I was used to see my arms covered in scars after I cut them out. They would heal as they always did. Almost too fast. Almost too magic. But of course, they had been a result of the magic long ago. Not the scars. No. "No," I gasped as I uncovered my arm. Almost covered in black scales. It hadn't been that bad since I first cut them off. "No," I said once again, clenching my bandage. The nadder squawked and the nightmare came around to see what was wrong. The two dragons just made a soothing sound when I stopped acting miserable. This wasn't me. I'm Astrid Hofferson. Yes, I was a part of a ritual involving fusion between human blood and dragon blood. When the dragons had gone mad and killed my parents I had been useless. When I survived I promised myself to never usemagic again, and to never ever be useless. But perhaps I would have to use magic to not be useless? I looked at the dragons. If two of them were not trying to kill me, the rest of them probably wouldn't do so if I let them out of their cages. I opened them all. Playing my little trick using some magic and showing them the black scales that were covering my arm. The dragons, five in total, looked at me. I wrapped my arm in bandages. "Show me your nest," I commanded the nadder. The nadder looked at me. Then it nodded as if understanding where I was going with this. I opened the doors out of the kill ring. I had a plan. We didn't have to kill the dragons, if I could just see the nest; I could see why they didn't just stay there. I had learned that they responded by the way we treated them, so something inside their nest must make them this way.

The nadder walked up to me as if we had known each other for a good while and let me climb upon her. It all went smooth, very smooth. And perhaps this was the reason the Gods wouldn't let me kill the dragons? So that I could take out the threat at their nest. I smiled as we flew off, not thinking about the axe I had left at the ring.

…(somewhere above the clouds)

Flying really was something. I don't exactly know how to explain the feeling, but it's absolutely something everyone should try. I had a death grip on the nadder's horns though. It was a long way down. We had flown through some clouds, which weren't hard or like sheep wool as I had thought them to be like, and now we were moving towards some more clouds. The sun was going down slowly. The air was so fresh up here. Not full of smoke or other viking scents. I took a deep breath. It was weird how I was so relaxed but at the same time terrified.

The dragons swooped down below the clouds after we had flown for a while. Rocks came at us and the nadder dodged and swooped, following closely behind the other dragons. The mist was everywhere and I was sure we had passed Hellheim's gate by now.

An old boat lurked in the shadows as the four dragons, the terror had stayed at Berk, swooped around it. We came out of the mist to find a clearing and I could see a big mountain. The noises of dragons filled the air as we swept closer. They flapped their wings and flew along the surface of the mountain to end up above it, and then they dived into the mountain.

It was very red. Everything was tinted red and an ominous mist covered some parts of the caverns. "What Stoic would give to see this," I though. But he would probably be happier to see his son right now. I looked around; except for the weird feeling crawling at my skin, there was no obvious threat. I was about to slide of the nadder and explore some on my own, hopefully no dragon would decide to kill me to death while I explored, when the nadder shook her crown and looked up where we had come from. The big hole in the mountain was filled with descending dragons carrying food. They flew over a point where the mist covered the bottom of the cavern and dropped their food? Yes, I had to look twice to see what was going on. No way, they're not eating any of it! I looked at the nadder, she backed away from the ledge, and so did the other three dragons that had followed me. The other dragons in the cavern backed away from their ledges as the flock of dragons landed. A single gronckle flapped its wings to the deep growl coming from underneath the mist. All the hair on my body stood on end as the dragon dropped a bite of a fish down the hole. Whatever was down there didn't seem happy about the little bite. The cavern shook as something came out of the mist. Chaos then proceeded to start. Every dragon tried to get out at once, while I tried to get a glimpse of the threat. The thing that made the dragons act the way they did. The nadder flew through the storm of screeching dragons. I barely got a glimpse as the dragon broke through the mist, I had expected something big, but only the head of the creature broke the mist and I froze with shook of the sheer size of that thing.

I couldn't do it alone. I would need some help. We managed to escape out the hole, and as we leveled out above the clouds three other dragons joined me. I couldn't take out that threat by myself. But I wasn't alone. I glanced at the dragons at my side. I had four dragons and some magic, perhaps with a bit more dragons and some more magic we could take it down. Yes, it would be hard, but when I showed up at the village with a map to the nest where I had slayed the enormous dragon, it would all be worth it. I smiled; I would get my name my name back. The Hofferson clan would once again be glorious.

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